When Chicago Meets Moldova

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Orphanage Visit in Straseni, Moldova

I received an email in early December mentioning the idea of volunteering at an orphanage to put on an event for them around the holidays. Immediately, I became intrigued. I enjoy working with kids and given the fact that this will be my first Christmas away from home it really inspired me to serve. The closer to Christmas the better, I thought. I sent an email back to a fellow volunteer displaying my interest to lead the event. With the unbelievable help over the course of two weeks, Peace Corps Volunteers and I were able to arrange a special holiday event for the orphanage in Strășeni, Moldova. We arranged four different activities: decorating Christmas cards, origami, dodge ball, and a crazy wrapping up a Frosty the snowman with toilet paper game. At the end of the event, fellow volunteer James T. brought in his teenage choir to sing about 15 Christmas songs in English, Romanian, and Russian. In theory, everything sounded perfect. However, being faced with 160 participants and only 10 volunteers to assist in child management the task at hand became rigorous. Listen to the full account from our visit and find out why this event was the most powerful and rewarding event I have experienced since serving in the Peace Corps:

I would like to give a special thank you to all of those who helped volunteer and coordinate this event: Kerry C., Hannah D., Carolyn M., Dahnika S., Erin H., Chris M., Kate H., Ethan C., Joe W., Bethany L., Brittany H., and James T. You guys all killed it and I appreciated everyone’s efforts that day.